Bete Noire Nightmare
by Burning Phoenix
Summary: Sometimes, there's more to our dreams than meets the eye. Not a TonyGibbs slash....... I still suck at summeries.
1. Sorry Boss

**Bete Noire (Nightmare)**

**Chapter 1**

**Sorry Boss**

Tony sat at his desk working on the search he had been conducting. They were currently trying to locate the whereabouts of a one Lt. James Thorrp. He was their only lead on the case they were working on. He had gone missing some time ago and while going through his credit card records, McGee had found that a purchase had been made after he was reported missing. Tony decided to work on the search, hoping that if he found him, Gibbs would take Ziva or McGee with him to bring the Lt. in.

Tony sighed. He wasn't actually mad at Gibbs anymore, he was just too stubborn to admit it, both to himself and Gibbs. So he still continued to have a cool attitude towards the ex-gunny, reffering to him as "Gibbs" rather than "Boss" or simply not responding at all. Abby had tried to guilt trip him into it by telling him that Gibbs thought that he hated, and even though Tony wasn't sure if it was true or not, he still didn't talk to him. Tony knew he would have to eventually, but right now he couldn't figure out how to start. Before he could think further on the subject, Gibbs came down the stairs from MTAC, and without looking at the others he went to his desk and grabbed his gun.

"Tony, grab your gear. Lt. Thorrp's body was found dumped at an abandoned warehouse."

Tony hesitated, about to say that he should bring McGee instead, but decided to keep the comment to himself and silently got his gun and bag before following Gibbs to the elevator. McGee waited until the elevator doors closed and turned to Ziva. "Well, at least he didn't object, so I guess that's a start."

The car ride there was silent, the only sound coming from the radio as Tony scanned though, looking for a decent station. Gibbs simply stared ahead, not taking his eyes off the road once. Tony looked at him out of the corner of his eye, but made no attempt to start a conversation. Finally they arrived at the deserted warehouse, getting out and cautiously walking up to the front of the warehouse, hands on their guns, just in case. Gibbs peered in through a crack in the door, spotting at least three gunman. He motioned over to Tony, holding up three fingures to let him know. Tony nodded and moved slightly to get a better look. Suddenly the whole place was alive with gun fire. Bullets flew in every direction, but the fire fight only lasted about 1 minute. Once they were sure the men were dead, they slowly made their way over to the nearest body, as Gibbs kicked the gun away, Tony went over to one of the other bodies to check for a pulse. Finding none, he straightened up and looked over at Gibbs who was checking the third body as well. Tony looked around, realizing that there was no Lt. Thorrp anywhere in the room. As Tony turned back to Gibbs to let him know there was one single gun shot that rang out through the warehouse, coming from behind Gibbs. Instinctively, Tony dropped and pulled out his gun just as Gibbs shot off three rounds, two of them hitting their mark as the man fell to the floor. Slowly Tony raised himself up to his feet as Gibbs went over to kick the gun away. And it was then that Tony realized too late that something was wrong.

"You get 'em?" Tony's voice shook as he forced the words through his lips. Gibbs immediately turned to look at Tony and what he saw made his blood run cold. Tony looked down at his fingers covered in his own blood as a bright red spot slowly formed on his chest. He looked back up at Gibbs, and he saw the fear clearly shown in his Boss' eyes.

"Sorry Boss" Suddenly Tony's legs gave out under his weight and he fell to the ground.

"TONY!!" Gibbs yelled his name as he ran over to him. Kneeling down he checked for a pulse and found none.

"Tony. Come on Tony, open your eyes." His voice slowly faded to a whisper as his plea fell on deaf ears. Gibbs fell back against one of the wooden beams that supported the building, trying desperatly to hold back the nausea that threatened to over take him. But no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't force his eyes to look away from Tony's still form. All he could do was sit in the silence that surrounded him. And as the truth made it's way to his conscince, so too did the guilt of knowing he had let Tony down.


	2. Guilt

Wow!! I didn't realize I would get any reviews that quick. I thought I would give everyone the "background" info behind this. Um, ok, we're gonna say that Tony and Gibbs had a really close Father/Son relationship but when Gibbs retired, Tony kinda took it to heart and at first he felt like Gibbs had abandoned him. Then when Gibbs comes back, Tony's attitude towards him is slightly cold. Basiclly, that continues up to the beginning of this story. And forgive me if Gibbs might seem OOC at times, it's just kind of hard to write him like that when we never see him like that. Oh and I know the whole "seeing Tony thing" is kinda like the Kate thing but I was stuck so, there!!! Ok I will stop talking now and let you read.

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**Chapter 2**

**Guilt**

The first thing Gibbs noticed were the lights coming from the other side of the warehouse doors. He remained exactly where he was, even as he heard the heavy doors scrape across the ground as they were opened. Gibbs bearly registered when Ducky came into view, leaning over Tony to check for a pulse.

"He's dead Duck." Gibbs voice was hoarse and quiet. His whole body ached from sitting for so long, but he ignored it and continued to stare at Tony's body. Slowly Ducky raised to his feet and went to crouch by Gibbs, taking in his ragged appearance with a sad eye.

"Jethro, we need to get you someplace where I can check for any injuries you might have." Ducky forced his voice to remain calm, waiting for the responce he knew was coming, but to his surprise Gibbs tore his eyes away from his Senior Field Agents body and looked in his direction, but Ducky quickly realized that Gibbs wasn't seeing him at all. Carefully, Ducky hepled Gibbs to his feet and they made their way to the truck. The ME sat Gibbs down on the edge of the vehicle and began to look him over noticing a few cuts but nothing serious. All the while, the Marine stared straight ahead, seeming to take no notice of what was going on around him. For him, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, people and objects almost blurred together. He was vagely aware of Ducky talking to him but he couldn't make out the words. He felt a pair of hands help him up and guide him away from the warehouse, to one of the NCIS registered cars parked a few yards away. The back door was open and he sat down, his legs facing away from the warehouse. Ducky was talking again but soon he left, leaving Gibbs alone, the guilt and pain still swirlling through his conscience. Slowly he closed his eyes and sagged against the seat, exhaustion finally starting to take over.

Once Ducky sat Gibbs down in the car, he went over to stand by Ziva and McGee. They didn't speak at first, all three lost in their own thoughts. Finally, McGee turned to Ducky, wondering if he should even ask.

"How is he Ducky?"

"Not good. I don't think he heard anything I said to him. " Ducky paused, looking over at the car Gibbs sat in. Turning back to the scene in front of him, he let out a small sigh. "Jethro has lost more than just an agent today."

Ziva looked over at the car Gibbs was in, before her attention was drawn back to the stretcher that carried Tony's body being taken to the van that would take him back to NCIS headquarters. She felt her stomach give an uncomfortable lurch as she remembered the sight of his unmoving form on the cold concrete floor.

"Someone is going to have to call Abby and tell her." McGee and Ducky both turned to her, knowing that she was right, but finding no solace in the fact. They all knew how the young woman would take the news and it did nothing to help. Tony was like a brother to her, someone she could easily joke with and even take comfort in sometimes. Her heart would break when they told her.

"I think it best to tell her in person. She will no doubt need a shoulder to cry on." Ducky stated, knowing how true it was. The others nodded in agreement, before turning their attention back the the crime scene.

--------------------------------

Gibbs sat unmoving in the back seat of the car where Ducky had led him, eyes closed as images flashed through his mind. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there when he heard the voice he knew wasn't real.

"It wasn't your fault Boss."

Slowly, Gibbs opened his eyes, allowing a sad smile to appear on his lips. He knew it wasn't real, no matter how much his heart wished it was. Tony continued to watch him, leaning against the back of the car, hands stuffed in his pockets. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Tony finally broke the silence.

"Come on Boss, say something. Anything! You're starting to freak me out with the whole silent treatment." Tony joked, hoping it would get him a response. It did. Gibbs eyes flashed with anger before it was quickly replaced by pain as he looked over at Tony.

"Can you prove that DiNozzo?" His tone was harsher than he had intended, but Tony knew it wasn't directed at him. He could see clearly the pain Gibbs couldn't hide. "I was supposed to be the one to watch your six." Gibbs looked away, as if it were some way to hide the pain that could clearly be heard in his voice.

"And I failed."

Tony barely heard the whispered words that were tinged with grief, and it was then that he realized Gibbs was talking about more than just his death.


	3. Tears and Broken Rules

Ok chapter 3 is finally done. I thought I would let everyone know that this isn't going to be a super long story. It's only going to be probably about 6 chapters. It's basicly just a warm up for me, so I can get the feel of writing an NCIS fic, because I have a couple other ideas as well, but they are longer and more difficult. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

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**Chapter 3**

**Tears and Broken Rules**

Gibbs sat unmoving at his desk, as McGee and Ziva went through the evidence they had collected at the scene. He looked up from his computer screen, watching them as they desperatly tried to figure out who had planned the ambush. His thoughts were suddenly diverted as a soft whine from beside him grabed his attention. He looked down at the sleeping form of Abby, who was leaning against the cabinet that stood behind Gibbs' desk. She shifted slightly in her sleep, muttering softly to herself. Gibbs was reminded of the look on Abby's face after he had told her what had happened.

_Abby backed away, shaking her head, as if it could block out the nightmare she was in. "No, no. It's not true. He wouldn't die. He wouldn't."_

_Her voice trialed off as a sob broke free, tears trailing from her bright green eyes. Gibbs pulled her into a tight hug, as she grabbed the front of his jacket, tears now falling freely, her whole body shaking as the sobs continued to come. After a few minutes, her crying subsided, though the tears were still evident. Slowly she looked up to meet Gibbs gaze, seeing the same sadness that threatened to overwhelm him as well. He leaned over and gently placed a kiss on her forehead, before turning to leave. He was stopped as she grabbed a hold of his arm. Turning back he saw the slight hesitation in her eyes._

_"Um, I, I want to see him, to say, but I don't..." Abby's vioced trialed off, not sure how to ask. Gibbs smiled slightly and nodded his head as they made their way to autopsy, Abby still clutching his arm. As the sliding doors opened, Ducky looked up from the paperwork that he had been working on, not the slightest bit surprised to see both Gibbs and Abby walk through the doors. Automaticly, he got up and moved over the where Tony was being kept. He placed his hand on the handle but paused, looking over at Abby._

_"Are you sure you want to do this Abigail." He asked, concern evident in his vioce. Abby opened her mouth to speak but found she couldn't, so she settled for a simple nod of her head. Slowly Ducky opened the door and pulled out the tray, a sheet covering Tony's body. With shaking hands Abby slowly lifted the sheet, the tears falling again as she saw Tony's face, pale and still, the total opposite of what she was used to from the man who had become like a brother to her. Carefully, she reached out her hand, brushing away some strands of hair, before leaning forward and gently laying a kiss on his forehead, feeling the cold beneath her lips._

_"Goodnight Tony."_

Gibbs was brought back to the present as he heard Ziva's angry vioce from the other side of her computer.

"There's nothing here! Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. There's not a thing I have that gives us any leads." She leaned back, her head hanging off the back of her chair, hands covering her eyes. A small sigh escaped her lips as she desperatly tried to block out the events of earlier. She could almost hear Tony's vioce in her head, commenting with some smart remark on her lack of composure. Instantly she striaghtened up, and focused on the evidence, determind to find the bastard who had done this. Suddenly McGee's vioce filled the now dimmly lit bullpen.

"I think I may have found something." Gibbs and Ziva both turned in his direction. Even Abby was brought out of her sleep, now fully awake, waiting with the others to hear what McGee had found. McGee typed a few keys and a picture appeared on the main screen.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking at McGee, besides the obvious." Ziva vioce was a little harsher than intended but McGee ignored it. This had been hard on all of them.

"I was going through the pictures we took, looking for anything out of place, but for some reason I kept coming back to this picture. I looked over it a few times when I noticed," he clicked a few more keys and the picture zoomed in on what apeared to be a piece of paper just sitting on the floor against one of the crates in the warehouse. Before anyone could comment, McGee cleaned up the image, to reveal what was writen on the paper. " this."

**"All games have rules, but some rules where made to be broken Detective."**

Gibbs read the words out loud, slightly puzzled by the note. Then suddenly it hit him. The note had been for Tony. "McGee, I want you to bring up all of Tony's case files from Baltimore. You and I are going to go through all of them. Look for anything that seems out of place or suspicious." Quickly, Gibbs grabed the keys and threw them at Ziva, who already had her bag over her shoulder.

"Ziva..."

"On it." Ziva caught the keys then turned and headed to the elevator. She had to find that note, and fast.


	4. Sick and Twisted Games

Ok, chapter 4 is up and running and man is it way longer than my other chapters. I know the whole thing about the case is gonna seem weird or off or whatever but I did the best I could do. I'm not too good at the whole crime scene investigation thing yet. And I did the best I could with the whole Tony/Gibbs conversation. I redid that conversation a million times but it never came out as good as I really wanted it so I put the one that came the closest to what I wanted. So forgive me if either of them seem out of character. I'm sorry. Ok that's all I have to say. Enjoy.

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**Chapter 4**

**Sick and Twisted Games**

Ziva weaved her way through the cars that littered the road heading back to NCIS. She had made it to the warehouse and after being let in she went to the crime scene, picture in hand, to find the note. She held her breathe as she made her way to the spot were the note should be and let out a sigh of releaf. There, sitting against the crate was the note she had come to find. Carefully, she picked it up with a pear of tweesers and placed it in one of the evidence bags before placeing both back in her backpack. Now she raced back to headquaters, hopeing beyound hope that Abby would be able to find a print.

After what seemed like an eternity, she made it to NCIS. Jumping out of the car she ran to the elevator, jaming the button harder than necesary, and waited for the doors to open. The minute she stepped out of the elevator three heads looked up in her direction and she allowed a smile to grace her features as she pulled out the bag that held the note safely inside. Abby jumped up from where she sat at Gibbs' desk with a delighted squeal and ran over to Ziva, surprising everyone by giving her a quick hug. Pulling away she took the bag and turned to the others.

"Are ya'll coming or what?"

Quickly Gibbs and McGee followed the two women back to the elevator, Abby pressed the button and the elevator was sent into motion yet again. Once the doors opened, they setpped out, following Abby as she made her way to the lab. Very carefully she removed the note and set to work on removing any prints that may have been on it. Everyone held their breathe, waiting for Abby to finish. Their patience was rewarded as Abby let out a happy "yes". Holding up the note, they could see the print left on the note, colored with the powder Abby had used.

"And I give you, the killers print."

Quickly Abby put in the information she needed and soon the print was displayed on the big screen in her lab. Gibbs turned to the screen. "Abby, I want you to run that print against all the people that Tony dealt with in Baltimore."

Abby nodded and turned back to the computer, typing furiously at the keyborad. Soon the system was away, compareing different prints to the one on the note. It didn't take long for it to find a match. Abby typed a few keys and the image of a man with short blonde hair and a tan complextion appeared on the screen.

"Joseph Peters. 24. He was the main suspect in 6 murder caeses, but was never convicted. Seems he aways managed to slip through, until..."

"Until Tony got the case." Gibbs finished. "Abby, bring up Tony's report."

Abby typed on the key borad for a few seconds and then another picture of Joseph appeared, along with the information Tony had on the whole case. They all read through some of the report and it didn't take long to figure out what the mesage on the note had been about.

**NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS**

"Ok so we know the guy is obviously isane. He acts like this whole thing is just a game. Setting rules that, if broken, could get any random person killed." Ziva stated after reading through the report for nearly an hour. They were back in the bullpen, each reading a different part of the report. From what she had read so far, Joseph liked to play games with the cops that were set up to investigate him. He would make up rules and if they weren't followed, he would kill some innocent person that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. When the cops had tried to charge him with the muders, he always managed to wringle away, then drop off the face of the planet, to appeare later, always eager to play more sick games. It also appeared that, right after they had failed to put him behind bars, they would turn up dead. But instead of going to Joseph, the evidence would point to someone else that the cops had put away in previous cases.

In Tony's case however, things seemed to have been a little different. From what the case said, Joseph had taken a hostage this time, an 8 year old girl, and Tony was put onto the case. Tony wrote down everything that transpired while he was on the case. Joseph told him that if he broke any of the rules, he would kill the girl. Some of the rules were that If someone else were put in Tony's place that she would be drowned. If Tony tried to find where they kept her and tried to free her, he would shoot her. When they read further they found the reason behind the rules.

It seemed that someone had found blood that belonged to Joseph at one of the crime scenes involving the third cops death. What he wanted Tony to do was to fix the blood samples, to make it look like it had been put there on porpose and that someone had just simply wanted to find a way to put him away. Tony had delayed a bit, knowing that this would be no easy task. He eventually managed to fix the blood sample, but instead of freeing the girl, Joseph had shot her as she was passed off to Tony. The bullet it appeared, had also been for him as well. He was hit in the side, but as Joseph made his escape, Tony pulled his gun, shooting him in the leg and effectivly stopping his escape. The girl died before the ambulance arrived and Tony had been rushed to the nearest hospital, where he had remained on critical condition for a few days. The report showed that he had slipped into a coma as they were removing the bullet, but for some unexplained reason, he stayed that way for longer than the doctors had expected.

"So, it looks like he came back to finish what he started. It was obviously part of his game to kill those who investigated him. But Tony was able to not only survive, but got him put away as well. I guess it just wasn't for as long as he expected." McGee said, his vioce low as sleep threatened to overtake him. They had been at this for quite a while, none of them wanting to rest until they found the bastard.

Gibbs sat at his desk, silently reading the report. He had a feeling he knew exactly why Tony had fallen into a coma. He had no doubt felt that it was his fault that the little girl had died. Gibbs let out a sigh and brought his hands up to his face, trying to will away the sleep that his body so desperatly wanted.

"You look like crap Boss." Tony's vioce was half amused and half concerened. Gibbs rarely ever showed when he was tired, but it wasn't just sleep that was effecting him. Though he was working hard to keep it hidden from Abby and the others, the pain was still there, and still raw. Gibbs lowered his hands, noticing that the others were nowhere to be seen. The only other person in the office was Tony, who stood in front of Gibbs' desk, watching him closely over the top of the monitors. It was then that Gibbs noticed the red stain that was over Tony'd chest, clashing with the light blue shirt he wore. Gibbs tore his eyes away from the wound and looked up into the green eyes that watched him, his chest tightening at the pain it brought before looking back at the monitor.

The sigh that escaped Tony's lips seemed to echo across the empty office. No matter what he had said, Gibbs still thought that Tony's death was his fault. He had tried to tell his Boss that he didn't see it that way by the car but had been interupted when Ducky came around, offering to take Gibbs home. "Boss, I don't blame you for what happened. Why can't you except that. If it was your fault I wouldn't be here, trying to convince you otherwise."

Tony's vioce sounded almost desperate, as if it was the most important thing in the world for Gibbs to see the truth in what Tony was telling him. Gibbs closed his eyes, bringing his hands up and resting his head on them. "You wrong Tony. But that wasn't the only time I failed you."

"Boss, I..."

"No. There's no excuse for what happened. All I was thinking about was myself. I didn't stop to think how my leaving might have effected you. I abandoned you. I did the one thing I said I would never do to you and you had every right to hate me for it. " Gibbs vioce cracked slightly, unable to hold back the sea of emotions that were swirling inside his head. Tony was silent for a moment, watching Gibbs work to keep his emotions under control.

"I never hated you Boss." Tony's vioce was low and quiet as he thought back to the day Gibbs had left and the empty feeling he had gotten in the pit of his stomach. He remembered the day that Gibbs had come back and how happy he had been to see him. He also remembered his own actions. He had been mad at Gibbs for what he had done, but he hadn't hated him. But then he hadn't exactly proven otherwise. He barely spoke to Gibbs, only when it was necesary. He stopped calling him 'Boss', simply refering to him as Gibbs. Tony bit the inside of his mouth. Abby had told him that Gibbs thought that Tony hated him and it looked like she had been right.

"I was just upset. At first I did feel like you had abandoned me, but when I thought about it I realized that I didn't really feel that way. I was just mad at the whole situation. When you came back, part of me was so happy, but there was still that part that was pissed as hell. So I did what I had always done when I was mad at someone. I acted like you were just someone that I had to work with but didn't really want to. I kept my feeling to myself. It was all I could do to keep myself from telling you the truth. It's funny, Abby tried to talk me into talking to you. She said that you thought I hated you. I could tell she wasn't really sure, and it almost worked." Tony ran a hand through his hair, wishing like hell that he had talked to Gibbs before now. Slowly he opened his eyes, having closed them as he was talking and looked at Gibbs, who had been watching him the whole time.

Gibbs didn't move for a few seconds, thinking over what Tony had said. He knew Tony was telling him the truth, but he still felt responsible for what happened. It didn't change the fact that he had left and it didn't change the fact that he had let Tony die.

"Boss..." Tony's vioce sounded slightly angered, knowing exactly what Gibbs was thinking. But before he could say anything more, a vioce interupted their conversation.

"Jethro, your body needs rest. You haven't slept in god knows how long." Ducky's concerned vioce sounded from beside him. Gibbs opened his eyes and turned to meet the coroners kind gaze. He knew Ducky was right, but he couldn't bring himself to go home.

"He's right Boss. Ziva and I can stay a bit longer and keep going over what we have." McGee offered, knowing how Tony's death had effected Gibbs. Knowing he would never hear the end of it, Gibbs reluctantly agreed and he and Ducky left the building, heading towards Gibbs house and the sleep he so desperately needed.


End file.
